Friday glee goes offwidth

[rydra_wong]

The Friday post of glee is where you get to tell us about your climbing-related happiness this week.

It can be a new achievement or adventure, or just that you climbed and had fun; it can be that your favourite climbing wall is expanding or that you bought new rock shoes or that you found a cool ice-climbing vid on YouTube. No glee is too small -- or too big.

Members are encouraged to cheer each other on and share the squee.

To enhance this week's glee: Tom Randall and Pete Whittaker demonstrate their unhealthy love for offwidth cracks.

N.B. Feel free to post your glee in the comm on any day of the week. The Friday post is just to get the ball rolling.

Comments

[rydra_wong]

I have glee because my tendons are recovering rapidly, and because I got to go down to Bowles by train on Tuesday.

For any other London climbers, here is a handy how-to:

1. Check this handy Twitter to find out whether the rock's dry: http://twitter.com/LaurenceReading
2. If you are a boulderer, download and print out the Bowles bouldering guide (there's a new guidebook coming soon).
3. Take to heart the Southern Sandstone code of practice.
4. Get the train to Eridge from London Bridge (this is the Uckfield train, and leaves every hour).
5. Turn right when you leave Eridge station. Go past the turning to Forge Road.
6. When you reach Eridge Road (a.k.a. the A26) cross it and continue walking beside it until you see the signs for Bowles Activity Centre.
7. Walk down the nice winding country lane to Bowles, which you will reach about 15-20 minutes after you left the station.
8. Stop in at the office and pay your £3 charge to climb there; if no-one's in, leave it in the donation box.
9. Climb.

[juliet]

oooh I wanna go do this now! I might have to invest in a bouldering mat. (Which one do you have, ooi?) (Actually I should probably make a whole 'nother post here about bouldering amts, shouldn't I?)

[rydra_wong]

oooh I wanna go do this now!

It is amazingly do-able: it's an hour's train journey, plus the 20 minutes walk in the country. And Bowles is officially an Outdoor Activity Centre, so it has toilets, which I really appreciate.

http://www.bowles.ac/

Apparently Harrisons Rocks is also walkable from Eridge station, so I think that's going to be my next bit of exploration.

Actually I should probably make a whole 'nother post here about bouldering amts, shouldn't I?

Yup! Then you can get advice from people who are not me as well. *g*

I have a DMM Highball which I was given as a birthday present a couple of years back; it's very solid but rather unwieldy, and probably overkill for the sort of bouldering I do at the moment.

Looks like this thread has some useful advice:

http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?n=452212

[rydra_wong]

Update: the Twitter feed says Bowles is now charging £4 to climb.

Unless that's a non-amusing April Fool's. Oh, I hate this day.

ETA: Nope, the Bowles website says £4; I was just being paranoid.

[juliet]

That is useful to know, thank you!

(I hate April Fool's, too.)